Grady coach Mark Seltzberg already had a good team without Jamel White. After all, Grady won 15 league games and earned the No. 2 spot in the PSAL playoffs, which begin today. But when Grady plays its first-round game on Friday, the Falcons will be even better, thanks to White’s return.

“We could have won it all without him,” said Seltzberg, Grady’s first-year head coach. “But we’re thrilled to have him back.”

White, who averaged nearly 16 ppg as a junior, missed the entire season due to academic ineligibility and was reinstated just last week – meaning he hasn’t played a game all season. But once a player passes the requisite number of classes and takes part in 10 practices, he can suit up – a situation that might not sit well with some of his teammates.

“You can see where it could be tough,” Seltzberg said. “But the rest of the team knows how good he is, so there’s no animosity.”

White isn’t the only major player to make his season debut in the postseason. Banneker sophomore Anthony Stukes, an integral part to the Warriors’ run to the championship game a year ago, is also back.

“His teammates have all been waiting for him,” said head coach Wendell Saunders. “They respect him so much and he worked hard to get back, so I don’t think it would be fair not to let him play.”

Other coaches disagree, saying that there should be a required number of games played before being allowed to return.

“You shouldn’t be allowed just to come back at the end of the season,” one coach said. “I don’t think it’s right.”

The PSAL disagrees. “If they do the work, they should be allowed to be out there,” said PSAL boys basketball commissioner Mel Goldstein.